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NOW that the Holy Week is over, it is back to the favorite pastime
of Pinoys—politics. Hey, do I give the drift that there was a
moratorium on politics during the Holy Week? Sorry folks. I just
remembered that some activists said there would be no let-up in
their anti-administration rallies even during the Lenten season. Ah,
I guess I must had been too naïve to believe that we could forget
politics during the Holy Week, the way we forget politics during a
Pacquiao fight.
The past week was full of sound and fury about
the alleged order of Cardinal Vidal to all Cebu priests to refuse to
celebrate Holy Mass for “modern hero” Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada
Jr. That Lozada made noises about this alleged order without
verifying whether it was true or not did not speak well of a person
in search of the truth. It was later shown that there never was such
an order from Cardinal Vidal.
I have some questions for Pinoys who attend Holy
Mass celebrated for Lozada. When political speeches are made inside
the church after the Holy Mass, doesn’t this violate the sanctity
of the place and event? When you clap and cheer after the speeches,
aren’t you turning a supposed sacred place into a political arena?
Is political consideration superior to religious belief, even when
one is inside the church? I also note Lozada’s tearful lament that
his son was not on the honor roll because of his quest for truth.
Wait, wasn’t his son studying at the De La Salle University? And
wasn’t he under the protection of La Sallite Brothers? Wow, this
drama is taking surprising twists and turns.
Reader Joey Legarda has these comments on my
last column “Politics and religion: “Sadly, religion in this
country has always been made up of rituals and obligations. Religion
has always been a very superficial matter.” Legarda notes that the
country’s notoriety for corruption does not jibe with its
reputation as the only Christian nation in the Far East. He also
laments that some people are using religion as an instrument to gain
political power.
While we are on this subject, I want to thank a
reader with the name PusongPinoy for his short but kind comment.
Yes, you have my permission to post that column in your website
responsible_phil_media@yahoogroups.com to share with your
subscribers.
Many public schools are squatters
The government is giving away land, both public
and private, to squatters. Oops, I forgot that they are now called
“informal settlers.” My apologies for not being politically
correct. Anyway, while we are giving away land to informal settlers,
aren’t we forgetting the public schools sitting on land they do
not own? Well, one of my favorite congressmen, Rufus Rodriguez of
Cagayan de Oro City does not forget.
Rufus said that many schools do not have legal
property rights over the land they occupy. He cited a study by the
Department of Education showing that there are still 8,011 untitled
and 6,257 unregistered school sites throughout the country.
Majority of these school sites are owned by the
local government units or are leased from private individuals. Some
are verbally donated and, therefore, lack the proper legal documents
to support the land transfer of ownership. Rufus notes that upon the
death of the donors, their heirs claim ownership of the land,
resulting in court litigation.
Rufus has filed House Bill 3599 seeking the
summary titling of all lands being utilized as public schools. He
said this would enable the school authorities to have direct control
and supervision over the land occupied by public schools.
Raffy Recto remembered
The last time I saw Rafael “Raffy” Recto was
in 1992 when his son, Ralph Recto became a congressman. As Benjamin
of the House in the Ninth Congress, Ralph swore in the newly elected
Speaker, Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. of Pangasinan. I could still
remember the glow in Raffy’s eyes as Ralph ascended to the rostrum
to administer the oath to JdV. That was 16 years ago but through
that length of time, I could never forget Raffy.
I struck his acquaintance in 1984 when I was
covering the Batasan, where he was one of 57 opposition members in
the Marcos-controlled National Assembly. What struck me was that he
always referred to his father, the eminent constitutionalist and
nationalist, as “Don Claro,” never as “Papa.” He showed he
was a chip off the old block with his speeches and votes in defense
of democracy. He is most remembered for his masterful use of the
Question Hour where he questioned then Energy Minister Geronimo
Velasco on the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. To my mind, Raffy was the
only legislator honored with a standing ovation after the Question
Hour.
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
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